Nike Running Sportband

It’s a tiny light wrist band that calculates your mileage, calories, speed and time of running. A much cheaper – although more simple – substitute to sophisticated running watches by Garmin. I bought one for myself while training for KL Marathon last year after learning that Garmin sports watch would cost nothing less than rm900. Nike sportband was less than rm250.

Love the product. Love the whole online experience thingy. As a runner and a gadget lover I am impressed with Nike. However, the staff in Nike outlets in KL and PJ somehow seems to be clueless when it comes to the sportband. For the past 8 months since I purchased it I had a couple of issues when I needed assistance. I walked in to a Nike outlet to get help. And every time I seemed to know more than the Nike staff. They all just stared at each other, smiled and shrugged. Annoying. It was the same at The Curve, The Pavilion and KLCC.

The latest problem is that when I start running the device does not start counting mileage but just displays the word LINK. From what I gather from the Nike website this means the battery of the sensor (the thing that goes inside the show) is weak. So I walked in to a Nike at e@Curve intending to confirm what the problem is and most probably to buy a new sensor. Simple matter. Not for Nike staff. They told me that I have to go to the outlet where I purchased the device (KLCC) and bring the receipt. I told them that it is inconvenient for me to go to KLCC (where I used to work before), besides I don’t have a receipt anyway. I don’t ask for any free service, I just need the problem solved fast and on the spot. So I want them to assist me here. In response I get a long muffled story that they have no clue what the problem is, neither can they contact Nike main office / tech support for me, they suggest that I go to some other outlet because all outlets are franchised and not connected. I ask them if we could try and see if the band will work with a brand new sensor, which they have in store. If it does I just buy it – end of story. It’s only rm79 and will spare me the time and expense of going all the way to KLCC not even sure whether they can assist since I don’t have a receipt. Nike staff still insists that I go to KLCC without the receipt in hope that the sales staff who sold me the band remembers me 8 months later!

So I leave empty handed and frustrated. The only good thing so far is that when I vented about it on Twitter, NikeMY responded to me asking what the problem was. Waiting for their solutions now…

 

Update: Wish Nike outlets staff across KL and PJ were as efficient and sharp as the Nike staff in the HQ. They have already sent me a tweet in response telling me just what I need: a short and sweet advice on the course of action. Confirmed that the problem is indeed the battery and I just need to get a new sensor in any Nike or Apple outlet.

Buying an iPhone 4 from Maxis

I am already a Maxis customer of many years. Several times in the past I have considered shifting to DiGi, especially when they offered an option of keeping the same number while switching mobile network operator. And yet I stuck with Maxis – not for the service mind you, nor for the best price deals – but for the quality and vastness of coverage. Hence, I have briefly considered buying an iPhone 4 from DiGi but finally have narrowed down to choosing between buying it from Maxis or from Apple directly.

Money Value

The deal is such that

a) you still have to pay for the phone – albeit at a reduced price. The reduced price is calculated based on a few factors: type of iPhone 4, number of months you are willing to commit, monthly payment you are comfortable with; and

b) you commit to using Maxis for certain number of months – 12 or 24 – under a specific package. This can’t be changed till the end of the commitment period.

Now, my current plan is such that I pay about rm85 for my local calls and sms. My talk time is averaging around 450 minutes per months and number of sms is around 300. I also pay for my Internet access – rm 58 for 500MB. Hence, my expenses (exclusing IDD calls) are 85 + 58  = rm143

Looking at this information I was attracted by the iValue Plan 2. You are committed to paying rm155 monthly. At this price you are entitled to 600 minutes talk time to any local number and 2G of Internet. You are also entitled to 400 smsand 40 mms to any other Maxis numbers. So far – a better value and the monthly fee is rm12 higher than what I an averaging now.

Under this plan – iValue 2 – you are entitled to buying an iPhone 4 at rm990  whereby the market price is 2245.

Buying Experience

This is not necessary the best highlight. Apple/Maxis duo is practicing the scarcity marketing. Which implies that each outlet receives 10-15 iPhones daily and they are sold on first-come-first-served basis within the first 5-10 minutes. This brings us to the situation whereby people have to show up at the outlet up to 30 minutes prior to iPhone delivery /outlet’s opening and rush in for the number when the “go ahead” is given. Prior ordering is possible but you will have to wait for 3-4 working days and then collect your iPhone at KL Sentral outlet only. Bummer. Perhaps it is fun for someone, but for the rest of us busy as hell practical people – this kinda sucks.

Payment

The above mentioned deal is no doubt good. However, there were a couple of hick-ups at the point of purchasing. First the Maxis sales staff told me that I have to pay rm1000 deposit for the iPhone that will be returned to be when the contract is over in 24 months. This didn’t make sense because as an expat I already have made a deposit of rm1300 when I registered in Maxis line. The staff insisted that I still have to top up another 1 grand to my deposit. And only when I asked to speak to the manager, who had more common sense, the situation was resolved and I was told that no extra deposit is necessary. So don’t cave in, peeps! Stand by what you think is right.By the way the entire incident nearly costed me my place in the queue which would have meant I would have to come back another day. They ran out of stock right after I finally took my number.

Another surprise followed when I was asked to pay not just rm990 for the phone but additional rm620 being advance payment of my monthly bill for the next 4.5 months. Well, it actually means that I don’t have to worry about my bill for the next 4-5 months. But still there is no logical reason for them to ask people to cough up rm620 for prepayment when there is a deposit in place. They also should make it known from the beginning and not ask for extra payment when you are half way through at the counter.

SIM card

Last but not least. After buying the phone I was directed to technical specialist. To my question – is there anything I need to know specifically about switching from iPhone 3 to iPhone 4 – he replied that it is pretty straight forward and I should be able to transfer all my apps and data via iTunes. With this I went back. And then at home – surprise! – realized that normal SIM card does not fit into the iPhone 4 as the slot is much smaller. Called Maxis and they confirmed that I need to get a micro SIM card. What is beyond my understanding is why wait for the frustrated customer to call from home and not share this precious info while the customer is at the outlet?! They offered 2 solutions: to wait for 5 days while they send me the SIM card by post or to drag my miserable ass to Maxis centre for the 3rd time on that day. I chose the latter coz it was just to frustrating to stare at my new iPhone and not be able to use it.

Happy end

That’s all folks. Loving my new iPhone 4 by the way. But the technical detail I will leave to technical folk to review. In this blog I am all about customer service experience.

KLM rocks

I confess – I am a prisoner to stereotypes and common perceptions. Spoiled by Singapore and Malaysia Airlines service I didn’t expect much from KLM. Moreover, my Malaysian friends warned me not to expect much from KLM and likes. Truth be told folks, when I saw the KLM cabin crew my first reaction was to tweet the following: Damn, KLM cabin crew is three times the age of that of Singapore Airlines, and two times the size. Another kind and objective person (ha! i am not the only mean one) responded to that with his tweet: … and four times as grumpy.

So, folks, I was kinda embarrassed for my own wood-headedness when KLM turned to be awesome. They were friendly despite everything people said to me earlier. They were helpful, everyone spoke English and they were darn efficient when a passenger had a medical emergency during the flight. So what if they all don’t feet into one size uniform like Singapore Airline crew and their smiles are less uniformed as well?

Oh and yes it didn’t hurt either that they had all latest Oscar winning collection in their movie database. I watched Black Swan, King’s Speech and long overdue Social Network.

Back in blissful tropics

As I was freezing my miserable ass in Berlin it crossed my mind that I might have gotten too used to the Malaysian weather. People are picky and inconsistent sort of creatures: one day moping about the boredom of never changing summer and the other – whining about frost bitten ears and the need to buy boots. And boy did I need to buy them boots! Arrived to Berlin wearing shoes like a hero and ran screaming to KaDeWe ready to cash out for a nice pair of warmer shoe wear. Mind you – I would have worn Russian valenki if there was no other options. But God bless shopping malls, end-of-season sale and countries where people wear size 41 foot wear. I marched off to the cold windy streets showing off fierce knee length leather dominatrix kind of boots.

The next day when I feared the damn ears might just freeze and fall off my head, I preoccupied myself with the need of buying a hat. One might call it a pressing need. Wasn’t as lucky in this department. The only hat I found on the way from my hotel to work was the nicely knitted woolen hat in lovely colour BUT with the huge word BERLIN written across the forehead. I was cold yet at the stage when I still cared for what was left of my reputation. Ended up with a checkered cap in a couple of days.

Dedicated to shopaholics

Malaysians love shopping. I got yet another proof of that sitting in an endless traffic jam surrounding Midvalley Megamall on a Saturda afternoon. Shopping and sale are part of the brand “Malayisa” on the internaitonal arena. I am reminded of this every time a friend online or offline asks me when is the best time to visit Malaysia for the sale festival and what are the best shopping malls.

Well, for your, my darlings, I will map out some of Kuala Lumpur shopping malls with a brief intro of what each malls is all about.

Low Yat Plaza – a must visit for electronics of all sorts from mobile phones to cameras and projectors. I wouldn’t say it is much cheaper than anywhere else in KL. It is all original products after all. But there could be a marginal difference in price and you could bargain a little. Moreover, there is a convenience of having all the sales outlets and all the competitors under the same roof. Survey, compare, bargain and buy.

Pavilion KL – it is one the latest editions to KL’s shopping landscape. The place is about 3 years old. It it one of the largest shopping malls and has a wide range of mid to high end brands. I would say it has one of the best combination of size and quality of a shopping mall. It is located in one of the very few areas of KL where people actually walk. Right across the road a range of smaller malls: Fahrenheit88 (very new and quite small), BB Plaza and Sungai Wang Plaza (both are in need of a makeover and featuring mostly budget brands and a lot of teen’ish outfits), Lot 10 (nothing to shout about) and finally the above mentioned Low Yat Plaza. Knock yourselves out!

Suria KLCC – oh yeah, I know, you’ve been waiting for this one. The famous Twin Towers. I’d say it’s a must visit mall. At least by virtue of where it is located. Shopping wise it’s a smaller version of The Pavilion. But slightly on a more high end side. All the Armani lovers will find their promised land there.

Midvalley Megamall + Gardens – this lovely couple is my personal favourite when my goal is specifically shopping and not so much dining, hanging out etc (for the latter I’d go to The Pavilion). The place is HUGE. It’s like a workout for you when you galevent from  one end to the other. All sorts of shops – mostly mid range in terms of price. Zara and MNG kind of shops. If Midvalley is old, Gardens has been build just a few years back as a more glamourous twin to the first mall. It’s smaller, quieter, has more expensive brands and more conducive environment for having a coffee after the day of shopping. Parking is hellish by the way coz there is no other place to park around there but the mall carpark itself.

That’s pretty much it, mi babies. Of course there are them malls in Petaling Jaya, outskirts of KL: 1Utama, Sunway Pyramid, The Curve. But frankly, I wouldn’t bother unless you are staying in that area and don’t fancy finding your way to KL.

Oh yeah, and don’t fall for that sale business. It’s ALWAYS some sort of sale in Malaysia. So don’t beat yourself up if someone tells you that you have just missed THE SALE.

 

 

What I like about Malaysia – part 1

This Monday Malaysia celebrated its National Day. Here people just love the eves of everything. Hence, the official parade and all took place on Monday, but the actual fun was cooking up on Sunday night.

I ended up in a night club with a bunch of friends. A jazz band under the open sky was doing the count down to midnight. At twelve the sky burst with firework (bless Malaysians who will always find a way to get some fireworks albeit illegal). Firecrackers shooting up, confetti dropping down and the band yelling out the traditional “Merdeka!” thrice. That’s exactly how the first prime minister of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed Independence of Malaya from the British on August 31, 1957.

Then a jazzy saxed up version of the national anthem followed. And I was thinking that in a few days time it is going to be 7 years since I am here. And how in 7 years from a strange alien place Malaysia has become the second home to me. And here are 10 things that I like about Malaysia.

1. Summer the whole year round

The first year in tropics you keep on expecting that the autumn is about to start. In your mind you know that there will be no autumn. But it is so unreal you just find it hard to believe. In winter you are linging for snow. And you miss the whole change of seasons thing.

The change happens in you slowly. You turn into a comletely sun loving creature, some sort of tropical species that can’t imagine life below 25 Celcius. Findly you realized in all it’s economical beauty how much you are saving on winter clothes!

2. Rain

Tropical rain became a revelation experience for me. No books nor TV  programs can prepare you for this. A continuous stretch of warm water is pouring out of the skies.

When it pours like that there satellite TV stops transmitting signal, it is advisable to switch off electrical items and close all windows. I love leaving the balcony door open, sitting down in front of it with a large cup of coffee and just watch the rain. How gigantics drops form real rivers on the asphalt.

3. Tolerance

Sooner or later you stop making radical statements or argue about religion, race and politics. In this melting pot you really never know who can get offended by a careless word.

Not that I am saying it is all perfect. Sure there can’t be a multiracial society without occasional frictions and some tension here and there. But! Overall what I see in Malaysia is very close to the perfect state of inter-racial co-existance.

4. Holidays

I love celebrating all holidays indiscriminately: Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Chinese New, Deepavali and even King’s birthday. Why not, if all of these are public holidays. Not to mention that each occasion brings colossal sales, festivals, a wave of culinary delights and treats sent to the office by partners and suppliers.

5. Loans system

You will be pleasantly surprised that getting house and car loans here is unbelievaly easy. Even with no down payment. Loan repayment period can be stretched up to 9 years for the car and up tp 30 for the house. Interest rate is within 4% for the car loan and 7% for the house.

More soon…

15 Malaysia. Halal

The fifth 15 Malaysia‘s film creates funny impression. A bit silly, a bit shocking. The opinions seem to part quite drastically. Some call it by far the worst movie on the project and refer to it as retarded. Some say this is the best as of now in 15 Malaysia marathon.

Watch it and decide. It’s called “Halal” which refers to the proper way of slaughtering chicken in Islam.

15 Malaysia. House

The week starts with 15 Malaysia’s another short film uploaded.

An Indian boy is asked to build a model of his house at school. A tale on the social economic plight faced by many Malaysians.

Symbols of Malaysia: Roti Canai

In my recent post on the symbols of Malaysia I spoke about teh tarik. Well, when one thinks of teh tarik the next thing that comes to mind is roti canai (pronounced as chanai). These are two things Malaysian traditional breakfast consists of.

“Roti” is Malay for “bread”. And Canai is a modified pronunciation of Chennai, the capital of Tamilnadu state in India. Roti Channai is none other than a modified Indian paratha bread.
The dought is as simle as it gets: wheat flour, half cup of water, half cup of ghee and salt. But the rest of the process is perhaps not safe to try at home.

The dought is divided into small balls that are flattened into the roudn shape.

The dough is rolled out as thin as possible without using a pin.

And then the magic begins. The dough is thinned further as it is being juggled with a la italian pizza.

The dough completes prodigious somersaults in front of the mesmerized public who by the way get not only the food but also the show for breakfast.

Boy, this guy was really inspired!

Finally the dough is of the right diameter and is as thin as it is supposed to be.

Then it is folded in half right in mid air. Then again and again.

Finally the dough touches the hot plate. While it is being fried, the roti canai man keeps on folding it shaping it into a round.

Cooked roti canai is a flat bread of about 15 sm in diameter. It is served with curries of your choice.

There are more variations of roti canai as far as imagination goes. They make them with eggs, onion, sardins and bananas to name a few. The name will tell you everything as these extended versions are called according to the malay names for their ingredients. Roti telur would be with egg, roti pisang with banana and roti bawang with onion. And I guess roti sardin does not require translation.

15 Malaysia. The Tree

Yet another short movie is finally out as part of 15 Malaysia project. This one is called “The Tree”.

Malaysia’s most influential spiritual leader Nik Aziz offers commentary on the virtuous and Islamic way to conduct ethical commerce in his inimitable style.

The amazing part is that the producer of this movie is not even Muslim. It’s Malaysian Chinese Pete Teo.